The process of hydraulic fracturing oil and gas wells produces industrial wastes referred to as Flow-back Water (FBW initial return) and Produced Water (PW long term return). Millions of gallons of regurgitated FBW/PW, per drill site, contain chemicals and other contaminates brought to the surface of the earth which need to be rendered harmless and disposed of. The O&G industry is searching for new ways to minimize the usage of Fresh Water (FW) being withdrawn from the environment which has increased the interest in recycling of the waste waters. Many methods have been developed but all have drawbacks to some degree; high cost per barrel, mediocre quality outcomes, low production rates. Recycling is being used to minimize the draw of fresh water from the environment, and to minimize the amount of contaminates needing to be disposed of.
The existing technology for the treatment and/or disposal of FBW/PW is extremely expensive and is not environmentally friendly. The current practice causes damage to the public's infrastructure from mass transportation of FBW/PW from the drill site and fresh water to the site, damage to the environment from spills and contamination, and earthquakes from FBW/PW being disposed of in injection wells. All the transporting of both fresh water and FBW/PW adds carbon footprint and greenhouse gases.
The practice of driving a fracturing pump with a transmission has inherent drawbacks; sudden load applications, up-shifting problems, horsepower losses through the transmission resulting in more fuel consumption, flow degradation due to less than optimal pump speeds and over torque possibilities in low gears damaging equipment.
Open fracturing rigs submit the environment to leak/spill possibilities of the engine fluids and massive spills of the chemically treated fresh water fracturing fluid at high pressure/flow entering the well head from the innumerous hoses, fittings and couplings. These items cause a large footprint on a small space and lend to a very dangerous work environment. The open rigs cause over burdening noise levels to the public also.
Some recycling systems are too slow processing low volumes of water and consuming more energy across the board. Some methods render usable low quality water but fluctuations in salinity and chemicals create hardships treating water for re-use. Other methods clean the water well but are left with larger amounts of waste such as dirty filters still needing processed or disposed of. Utilizing a transmission the pump flow is marginalized as the transmission has horse power losses through itself and is not an exact match for maximizing the speed and flow from the pump.
FBW/PW treatment generally is not performed on site during fracturing, but is done after the fracturing is completed with other types of equipment. This is an additional expense, another contractor and equipment on the drill site and more energy is consumed. Disposal at permitted facilities is very expensive, requires trucking and separate from the fracturing process. Disposal is also performed injecting FBW/PW into wells contaminating the earth and causing earthquakes. Utilizing a transmission to drive a fracturing pump causes quick hard loading of the engine resulting in killing the engine when coming on line against a high pressure manifold potentially causing damage to all components. Pump sets are traditionally open frame mounted and leaks can be strewn on the ground easily from the engine, transmission and the fracturing pump itself. Open units also cause a very high ambient noise level on the drill site and surrounding environment.